How can phone storages be so small, while computer SSDs are comparatively much larger?

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If phone storage devices can be made so small, why are we still using 2280 sized SSDs for computers?

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22 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Bigger is cheaper (to a degree) in electronics. ssd’s have their own controller and memory on the board

Anonymous 0 Comments

Speed, effectively. Phone storage devices are nowhere near as fast as high-end M.2 drives. They are also usually much smaller capacity. I have a 2 TB SSD in my computer, my phone has I believe 64 GB.

Anonymous 0 Comments

the chip is crazy small, companies intentionally make the shell/cover bigger so it’s easier for us to handle n manage. also, standard is already in place for connecting and securing ssd in pc, why change when changing does not really benefit.

anyone using usb flash drive? they made it so small that i began losing them at an astounding rate. i started to make shells n stuff to make the usb drive bigger n less prone to be lost.

Anonymous 0 Comments

More flash chips = more data can be accessed simultaneously = faster SSD. You can get small SSDs for PCs (the Steam Desk uses one in fact) but the physically larger ones can be faster and there is plenty of space in PCs so may as well use the fast ones.

Anonymous 0 Comments

There are more form factors than the 2280, some being quite a bit smaller.

Computer SSDs are different than what’s soldered onto your phone’s motherboard though. There’s more to an SSD than just its storage chip, which *is* very small. There’s additional storage *and* memory on there for caching data for faster read/write operations, they might have separate storage chips for frequently accessed data, they have extra controllers to manage the storage and the IO, etc. It’s a more complex unit that also happens to be shipped on a PCB that follows certain standardized dimensions. And those standaradized dimensions happen to have to be large enough for a modular device that’s supposed to be handled by bare hands and no tool more complex than a simple philips screwdriver.

The storage on your phone is *much* simpler in comparison. It’s smaller, but it’s gonna lack certain features and it’ll also be slower.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Computer SSDs could be made smaller, it would just be more expensive. And size isn’t as much of a concern in a larger computer that has plenty of space. While for a phone, it has to be small and convenient. 

It’s more of an economic type decision than a technical one 

Anonymous 0 Comments

sorry, are you asking why a phone (usually 128gb of memory, up to 1TB maybe) has a smaller ssd than a computer (usually 2TB, max of 8TB)?

because 1 can store like 10 times more?

Anonymous 0 Comments

The casing takes most of the space nowadays. It’s standardized and kind of handy for swapping these in and out.

There’s also a bit more electronics and various chips in the computer SSDs that help with efficiency.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Manufacturers could make the storage for larger devices like they do phones but it would be more expensive and no added benefits (there’s always an exception to the rule).

Manufacturers could make the storage for smaller devices like they do desktops and laptops but it would make the end product way bulkier and the market doesn’t want bricks, phones are plenty big as they are now.

Also, even though the internal components are larger, modern desktop storage like SSDs are often sold in a case much bigger than the internals to maintain compatibility with storage slots on computer cases and laptop shells.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Eli5: phones are like your jacket pocket, and your pc is your cupboard

Your cupboard can store a large amount of stuff because it’s big, but it can’t easily be moved.

Your jacket pocket isn’t really designed to carry stuff. Your jacket functions as a jacket, but for convenience we can have a little pocket, just for small stuff.